Audible alarm.



R. F. DOWNEY.

AUDIBLE ALARM. Arxiucmxou man 1m40.191s.

Patented Dec. 26,*1916.

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BICI-IARD F. DOWN EY, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO HUGO LOEWENBACH, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN,

AUDIBLE ALARM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented nee. se, 191e.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD F. Downing a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Audible Alarms; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

`My invention has for its object to provide a simple, effective and positively actuated alarm or audible signal, the same being especially applicable to that type of mechanism comprising burglar alarms.

With the above object in view the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of mechanical elements as set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents an elevation of an alarm embodying the features of my invention with parts broken away and parts in section, as indicated by line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a sectional front view of the same, the section being indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1,Y and Fig. 3, a detailed plan sectional View of the hammer mechanism, the section being indicated by lline 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1 represents a bed-piece provided with a reduced forward extension comprising a suitable cartridge-receiving means in the form of an upstanding boss 2; the said boss has extending therethrough a circular recess 2 for the reception of a cartridge A and the recess is also intersected by a vent channel 2". The bed-piece is also centrallyslotted as at 3 for the reception of the heel portion 4 of a hammer, which hammer is fulcrumed upon a pin 5 that extends through the bed-piece, as best shown in Fig. 2. The hammer is provided with a firing head 4, which firing head is adaptedl to engage the cartridge A and enter the channel 2" when the alarm is actuated, whereby said cartridge is exploded. When the hammer is cocked,`

as shown in Fig. 1, the firing head is arranged to enter a depressed seat 6 that is formed in the end of one member of a composite leaf spring 8, the rear end of lwhich leaf spring is secured to the bed-piece by a screw 8. Hence it will be seen that when the hammer is cocked spring pressure exerted upon the firing head, but the said head is locked owing to the fact that it engages the seat 6. The heel portion 4f of the hammer is formed with a tappet finger 9 for the purpose of tripping said hammer when the mechanism is put into action.

In order to cock the hammer and release it from cocked position I provide a gravitycontrolled trigger-arm 10, legs of which extend downwardly and are loosely mounted upon the pin 5, the ends of which project beyond the bed-piece, whereby they 4form the desired pivotal connection. The legs of the arm 10 are connected by a two-part hammeractuating bar 11, 11, the upper bar portion 11 being arranged to engage the body of the hammer when the trigger is swung backwardly, whereby said hammer is cocked. The lower bar portion 11 of the trigger is adapted to engage the tappet linger 9 when the arm is dropped downwardly to effect a hammer action, whereby the trigger 1s positively moved free 'of its engagement with the depressed recess 6 of the spring member 8 in order that the pressure of said spring member may be exerted to effect a firing operation.

The leg portions of the trigger arm 10 are connected by a bridge-piece 10', which bridgepiece is provided with an aperture 12, whereby a runner 13 in the form of a thin thread may be passed therethrough. The runner is primarily mountedupon a spool 14 that is fitted between the legs of the trigger arm and mounted upon a stud 15.

In practice, when it is desired to set the alarm mechanism, the trigger-arm 10 is swung up to the position shown in F ig. 1, whereby the hammer is cocked and locked in its cocked position by its engagement with the spring. Hence it will be seen that there is no pressure upon the trigger arm and, owing to the fact that the latter has been swung across a vertical line drawn through its axis of oscillation, said trigger arm will remain in this position, the backward movement being limited due to the fact that the bar 11 rests upon the body of the hammer. The runner 13 is then threaded through the aperture 12 and is coiled about a holding pin 12', which projects from the bridge-piece 10 of the trigger arm. By this holding arrangement, when force is applied to the free stretch of the runner 13 it willvbe bound so as not to cause it to play out upon the spool. The locked stretch of the runner may Abe of any length and can be arbitrarily strung past a threshold, over stairways or extended to a chicken coop or other building outside of the dwelling` and after so laid, the end of the runner is attached by a pin B or other device to some fixture, such as shown in Fig. 1. Hence it is obvious that should anyone cross the field of the practically invisible runner, the slight strain put upon the same will be suflicient to draw the gravity-controlled trigger arm beyond its point of rest, whereby gravity will cause it to drop downwardly and the inertia of the blow, due to engagement of the bar 11 with the linger 9, will be suflicient to trip the hammer, whereby its spring power will cause the cartridge to be exploded, giving the desired alarm.

It should be understood that the bedpiece is not fastened and, owing to this fact, when the tripping pressure is applied to the runner, there is no tendency of said runner to break. It is also manifest that should it be desired to shorten the exposed length of runner, or lengthen the same, it can be readily effected by manipulating the spool Il and, in order to more conveniently wind the runner upon said spool, the stud 15 is formed with a cranked end 15, as best shown in Fig. 2.

I claim:

1. An alarm comprising a bed-piece, a cartridge receiving member carried thereby, a hammer pivoted to the bed-piece having a firing head in juxtaposition to the member, a spring having means for locking and engaging the firing head, a tripping finger projecting from the hammer, a gravity-actuated trigger-arm pivotally associated with the hammer adapted to extend beyond a vertical line through its pivot when the mechanism is set for firing, means carried by the trigger arm for engagement with the hammer linger when said arm is swung downward from its set position, whereby the hammer is released, a thread-like runner having one end secured to the trigger arm and adapted to be arbitrarily extended over a field, and a fastening means for the opposite end of said runner.

2. An alarm comprising a bedpiece having a cartridgeholding block in connection therewith, the said block being provided with a cartridge-receiving recess, a hammer in pivotal union with the bed-piece, a firing head and a tapp`et-linger,on the hammer, a spring secured to the bed-piece having its free end engageable with the hammer head and ladapted to hold the hammer in cocked position, an arm in pivotal union with the bed-piece, means extending from the arm for engagement with a head and finger of the hammer, a spool mounted upon the trigger arm, a runner carried `by the Spool, and means in connection with said trigger' arm for preventing unwinding of the runner.

3. An alarm 'comprising a bed-piece, means carried thereby for holding a cartridge, a pivot shaft carried by the bed-piece, a hammer pivoted on said shaft for movement adjacent said cartridge holding means to operatively engage a cartridge carried thereby, spring means engageable with said hammer to hold it in a cocked position and to urge it to said engaging position, a trigger arm also pivoted on the shaft, including portions for engaging the hammer to move it from said engaging position and for initially moving it toward engaging position, and a member connected with the trigger arm for moving said arm to eect such initial movement of the hammer. j In testimony that I claim theforegoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD F. DOWNEY.

Witnesses: v

N. E; OLIPHANT, M; E. DowNING.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

